Many electronic devices such as Personal Computers (PCs), portable email retrieval devices, cellular phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), laptops, and other communication devices as well as point-of-sale (e.g., cash registers) systems utilize a touch-screen as a user input device. The popularity of touch-screens has further increased as a result of their increased functionality. More specifically, legacy touch-screen technology reacts to only a single point-of-contact. Now, touch-screen technology recognizes commands that include multiple points-of-contact on the touch-screen.
As electronic devices have become increasingly smaller and capable of providing increased functionality, so too has the need to maintain the security of such electronic devices. Traditionally passwords were used to maintain the security of such electronic devices. While the use of passwords helps to ensure that only licensed users are allowed access to the electronic device and applications stored thereon, the passwords can become cumbersome to enter, especially when the user needs to enter it quickly to access the electronic device (i.e., like when the user is attempting to answer a call to their cellular phone).
The primary means of entering a sign-in password with touch screen devices is via a “stylus pen,” where the user is required to enter the password by either pressing keys on a virtual keyboard or using specialized graffiti language. This specialized graffiti language can also tend to take a long time to enter a password. Moreover, passwords on these portable electronic devices tend to be short and weak, given the inconvenience of requiring the user to enter a complex password with current methods.
It would be desirable to provide a portable electronic device that leverages the emerging technology of touch-screen devices as well as the drivers associated therewith to provide a more secure portable electronic device that is also easily accessible.